Paul Rudd

Paul Stephen Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey. His parents, Michael and Gloria, both from Jewish families, were born in the U.K. He has one sister, who is three years younger than he is. Paul traveled with his family during his early years, because of his father's airline job at TWA. His family eventually settled in Overland Park, Kansas, ...
Show more »

Paul Stephen Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey. His parents, Michael and Gloria, both from Jewish families, were born in the U.K. He has one sister, who is three years younger than he is. Paul traveled with his family during his early years, because of his father's airline job at TWA. His family eventually settled in Overland Park, Kansas, where his mother worked as a sales manager for TV station KSMO-TV. Paul attended Broadmoor Junior High and Shawnee Mission West High School, from which he graduated in 1987, and where he was Student Body President. He then enrolled at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, majoring in theater. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts-West in Los Angeles and participated in a three-month intensive workshop under the guidance of Michael Kahn at the British Drama Academy at Oxford University in Britain. Rudd helped to produce the Globe Theater's production of Howard Brenton's "Bloody Poetry," which starred Rudd as Percy Bysshe Shelley. Show less «

Theater is the most enriching and thrilling thing to do as an actor. It trumps movies and all that other stuff. People say, "You must love t...Show more »

Theater is the most enriching and thrilling thing to do as an actor. It trumps movies and all that other stuff. People say, "You must love the instant feedback," and we're all attention whores for sure - that's why we choose this profession. But it goes beyond that: There's something magical about a shared experience in a theater, with actors and an audience. I don't know if the audience members realize just how huge a part they play in a production. How they are determines how we are, and when it all works, it's magical. Show less «

There's a feeling of enrichment and challenge when it comes to doing a play, and especially doing, you know, a classical play or a tragic pl...Show more »

There's a feeling of enrichment and challenge when it comes to doing a play, and especially doing, you know, a classical play or a tragic play. In a way, it works a different set of muscles, I guess. But I do love it, and I love great writing, whatever it is, and there are so many great plays, and a lot of the writing in a lot of plays is just stellar, and no one is making movies like that, or if they are, I'm certainly not getting cast in them. But you know, working on a comedy with your friends. Like, I would say that with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) and The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) and Wet Hot American Summer (2001), I was working with people who are completely inspiring. I love being around that company, and I try and step up to the level of their game. Show less «

I can, and do, walk the street. No one bothers me or anything, because most people wouldn't know who I am.

I can, and do, walk the street. No one bothers me or anything, because most people wouldn't know who I am.

When I was doing The Shape of Things (2003), which we'd done as a play, it was just so tired by the time we rolled tape.

When I was doing The Shape of Things (2003), which we'd done as a play, it was just so tired by the time we rolled tape.

I think there's something great and generic about goldfish. They're everybody's first pet.

I think there's something great and generic about goldfish. They're everybody's first pet.

[on Clueless (1995)] It's really cool being in a movie that I think was a seminal movie for a lot of kids. When we were shooting it, we all ...Show more »

[on Clueless (1995)] It's really cool being in a movie that I think was a seminal movie for a lot of kids. When we were shooting it, we all hoped that [Clueless] would fall into that kind of pantheon of movies like John Hughes made, or that really struck a chord with us when we were teenagers - and that years after it was released that we all kind of felt that it had. It actually had achieved that status for a lot of people. What a cool thing it is to be involved in something that attains that level of importance in a lot of kids' lives. So keeping that in mind, I certainly don't tire talking about that if people want to hear about it. It isn't one of those things where it's like "I've moved past that! I've done other things!". I don't feel that way about anything. I've done good and bad. I tend to be like "Oh, ask me about something that I was in whether it was something that was good or something that was just terrible." I'll talk about either of them freely. Show less «

[on the role of "Ned" in Our Idiot Brother (2011)] I think this character is actually very smart. [He] is living his life the way he wants t...Show more »

[on the role of "Ned" in Our Idiot Brother (2011)] I think this character is actually very smart. [He] is living his life the way he wants to. People call him an idiot because he's loving and he's sincere. But he made the decision to be that way and, if he can do it, maybe others can rise to the occasion. Show less «

I don't consider myself a comedian because I don't really concern myself too much with jokes. I think I've dealt with any kind of trauma in ...Show more »

I don't consider myself a comedian because I don't really concern myself too much with jokes. I think I've dealt with any kind of trauma in my life with humor, and I was a fan of comedians and comedy growing up. I still am. But I never had that thing where, after Anchorman or something, I was "Okay, now I want to play a serial killer" or "Now I want to do something totally different." That seemed kind of false to me. Show less «

A movie like I Love You, Man (2009) is certainly a comedy. But a lot of the humor just derives from awkwardness, insecurity and discomfort -...Show more »

A movie like I Love You, Man (2009) is certainly a comedy. But a lot of the humor just derives from awkwardness, insecurity and discomfort - all stuff I relate to. It's a real thing, and it's not funny to me when I'm feeling it in real life. And it's not funny to the character when he's experiencing that in the movie. Show less «

[on his Jewish identity] My whole family is Jewish; my wife, Julie, is Jewish - there isn't anyone in my family who isn't Jewish. I was bar ...Show more »

[on his Jewish identity] My whole family is Jewish; my wife, Julie, is Jewish - there isn't anyone in my family who isn't Jewish. I was bar mitzvahed Reform; we were pretty laid back, but it's like, oh yeah, I went to synagogue. I know what it's like to look for matzoh. [laughs] I know the culture and I know the food. I know what a Haggadah is! I know these things, and I did a play many years ago [in 1997] called "The Last Night at Ballyhoo", which was a new play at the time, about Eastern European Jews and the anti-Semitism they faced by German Jews in the South. Alfred Uhry, the playwright, became somewhat of a surrogate father to me in New York - I live in New York still and he does, too. And every seder at Alfred's house he would say, "You know, if you are Jewish, it almost doesn't even matter how religious you are. If you're Jewish, it's just in the marrow of your bones." We have a lineage that is so many thousands of years old, that you just relate. It is a tribe; it's like "Oh, yeah, that's my team," and I feel that for sure. Show less «